Singapore condo builders face difficulty in servicing $23.5 billion debt as construction binge causes prices to slump further

Singapore Business Review, 10 Oct 2014
Singapore’s listed developers and real-estate investment trusts face their heaviest burden of near-term maturities on record just as home prices drop.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the 80 property companies on Singapore’s stock exchange reported a combined S$23.5 billion ($18.5 billion) of borrowings that have to be repaid within a year in their latest filings, Bloomberg-compiled data show. The looming debt wall comes as the vacancy rate for condominiums soared to the highest since 2006, pushing prices to the lowest in almost two years, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority. Full story

Indonesian export ban leaves Singapore short of granite, numerous construction projects delayed

Question: Is this the real reason behind Khaw Boon Wan scaling back HDB BTO projects?

The Star Online, 2 Feb 2014
A shortage of granite due to an Indonesian export ban has left several construction projects in Singapore in a rocky state.
Contractors said that there had been delays for various projects since the middle of this month.
The Indonesian government ban­ned a wide range of minerals from being exported globally on Jan 12. It stopped shipping granite aggregate to Singapore around the same time.
It is understood that the regulations issued by the Indonesian government say that exports of raw or unprocessed granite out of Indonesia are not allowed. Full story

Singapore Shifting towards More Expensive Construction Techniques and Green Building

Market Publishers, 21 Feb 2011
LONDON – Singapore is a relatively large importer of finishing materials. In 2009 the country imported $315.67 million worth materials. Nevertheless finishing materials import value started to decrease in 2008 due to the economic slowdown. In 2008 import decreased by 4%, in 2009 – 27%. Major countries-suppliers of finishing materials to Singapore are China, USA, Germany and Japan. Full story